Even though he’s a high-profile Republican, Texas Sen. John Cornyn is sounding like a veteran diplomat in his assessment of the rival candidates in the upcoming battle for governor between Republican Gov. Rick Perry against Democratic challenger Bill White.

Senate photo

Sen. John Cornyn

Cornyn’s balanced, respectful evaluation contrasts with his hard nosed partisan rhetoric in Washington where he has been tearing the hide off Democratic Senate candidates who are fighting Senate Republicans’ efforts to retake political control of the Senate in November.

Cornyn leads that effort as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“You have to start with premise that Texas still leans Republican,” said Cornyn, who has run repeatedly statewide for the state supreme court, state attorney general and twice as for the Senate. “That doesn’t mean any Republican candidate can take it for granted.”

Cornyn says Texas “is still a marginally red state (Republican),” adding that the political preference “will be tested by Bill White who is a serious candidate for governor.”

Cornyn expressed respect for White in a telephone conference call with reporters this afternoon.

White has been mayor of Houston and “I think there’s elements of the job he’s done that have been good,” Cornyn said.

“But it’s another thing entirely to run in a state as big as Texas,” he added. “I think you have to make the case why you would be a better choice.”

Cornyn says White is “going to have his hands full” in the race against Perry, a “vigorous” campaigner.

Perry may have lost the Austin-versus-Washington attack line that the governor used effectively against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, to win in their March 2 primary battle for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

But Texas’ economic performance continues to outpace the recession-damaged national economy, helping Perry in his campaign.

“Governor Perry has presided over the state during periods of enormous success and I think has a lot to run on and to commend him to voters in 2010,” Cornyn said.

“The fact that on Governor Perry’s watch our state has done pretty well relative to the rest of the country so I frankly think he’s got a good chance, a very good chance of being re-elected.”

A statewide Rasmussen poll following the state’s March 2 primary showed Perry leading White, a former mayor of Houston, by six percentage points.

Were that margin to hold, the Perry-White race would be the closest race for governor in years.

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Voters in the Lone Star State have voted reliably – even overwhelmingly — Republican in races for both president and governor.

Texas backed the GOP presidential candidate by 10 percentage points in 2008, 23 percentage points in 2004 when Texan George W. Bush was on the ballot and by 21 percentage points in 2000 when Bush first ran for the White House.

Texans have backed GOP candidates for governor almost as strongly, giving Perry a nine percentage point margin of victory in the crowded race in 2006 and an 18 percentage point edge in 2002.

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Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also threaded the political needle on two other showcase races.

He quietly touted his campaign committee’s successful, below-the-radar effort to funnel $500,000 and 13 full time GOP staffers into the Senate campaign of Republican Scott Brown to help the little known state senator win the special election for the Massachusetts’ Senate seat long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy, a Democrat.

Cornyn said his committee and the Republican National Committee each delivered $500,000 to the Brown campaign by clearing the money through the Massachusetts Republican Party “so as not to attract attention to ourselves.”

The money helped. Brown won, becoming Republicans’ 41st vote in the Senate and enabling the GOP to block some of the Democrats’ agenda, including aspects of the White House plan to overhaul health care.

Cornyn said by using “smart money” his campaign operation could be “more effective” in gaining GOP seats.

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Cornyn also dealt diplomatically with the Florida contest for the Senate that features up and coming Tea Party-backed Marco Rubio edging ahead of GOP Gov. Charlie Crist for the GOP senatorial nomination.

Cornyn had recruited Crist for the GOP in 2009 before Rubio became a force to be reckoned with. Cornyn said he would continue to support Crist on a personal level but would not use NRSC money or staffers to help Crist prevail over Rubio.

As Cornyn explained: “I endorsed Governor Crist early on, really before this became a real contest. I’m not going to do anything to change that. I think I’m honor-bound to leave it as is. But it doesn’t that mean we’re going to spend any money in the primary. It doesn’t mean we’re going to be saying anything bad about Marco Rubio. To the contrary, I think Marco Rubio, if he wins the nomination, will beat (Democratic congressman) Kendrick Meek.”